Southern Dopers: what regionalisms do you use?

In My Humble Opinion
1

“Y’all” is pretty much universal, of course, but growing up in Mississippi I’ve picked up lots of other interesting slang. I used to ask my mother where “yonder” was supposed to be – “Is it right, left, north, south?” – and we have lots of mosquito hawks and lightning bugs buzzing around our backyard.

When my mother would get flustered at me she’d yell, “You could worry the horns off a billygoat!” and I used to hate getting redbugs when I played outside. Some of my family members pronounce “fire” as “fahr”. We eat breakfast, dinner, and supper.

2

You prolly use the same ones I do …

You’d better “git you some yonder”.
If there’s a lot of something, there’s “a right smart” of it.
Go up the road “a little piece” to the “church house”.
He ain’t nuthin but a “dirt road sport”.

3

I’m not a southerner, but I married one. As a result, phrases like “might could” and “fixin’ to” have crept into my vocabulary.

4

I use “y’all” and “fixing to.”

5

I ain’t gonna not never did could learn to speak no yankee tawk.

6

“Fixing to fix supper.”

Yonder was always “out yonder.”

Directly is sometimes pronounced dreckly.

I talk about what I would do if I had my druthers.

“Meat-n-three” refers to a homecooking style restaurant that serves your choice of a meat and three veggies for one price.

7

Everyone is “honey”, “darlin’”, or “sweetie”

You can insult anyone however you want to, as long as you add “God bless their heart” to it

If you want to sound like a southern, just add extra r’s into your vocabulary: I’m Jessicar and I live in Alabamer

And I promise all this is “fur” real :wink:

8

Yonder
Directly
Fixin’ to (not used in WV but common in western KY)

Expressions of surprise and/or frustration:
Shit fahr and save the matches!
God bless my fat aunt Clara!

“I don’t care to _______” means “I don’t mind”
(ex: I don’t care to drive the kids to the mall.)

Anymore: substituted for “these days”
(ex: Anymore these high school kids are runnin plumb wild)

9

The only one that I’m aware of using is “fixing to”. I try to avoid using regional vernacular when I can even though I was born and raised in the South.

10

I used to as well, but I finally realized it was hopeless. It was too much a part of my lingo. I’d be willing to bet you use it without realizing it :wink:

11

I use them all, but when I was in England I became infamous among my teaching colleages because, although I don’t remember it, I apparently used the phrase “That shit ain’t gonna fly” one night at the pub.

The phrase is now in common usage in one tiny town in Surrey.

12

or among my teaching “colleagues”…

13

I was born in northeastern Oklahoma, but moved to Texas 20 years ago, when I was 11. I have relatives up north who make fun of the accent I have apparently developed.

I do say ‘fixing to’ and ‘y’all’ and occasionally ‘yonder’. A friend believes that I no longer pronounce ‘dog’ correctly and there are too many vowels in there, but she’s from California and she talks funny. I’ve always lived in a region where ‘firefly’ and ‘lightning bug’ are used interchangeably. Texan Southern doesn’t seem quite as interesting as some of the more eastern varieties. If you use the word ‘cooter’ around here people will laugh, in some places cooter is more widely used than pussy.

14

“Y’all” is just the Southern “vous.” I’m surprised more Northerners don’t use it (I think Pittsburghers use “y’ins”).

15

“Y’all” and “fixin’ to” are daily sayings.

“Here directly” gets used a lot too. It means “soon.”

Actually, there’s too many for me to list. Western KY will do that to a person. (Born and raised there.)

16

Y’all. Here directly. That shit defnit’ly ain’t gonna fly. Yonder. Sweetie/darlin’/honey.

I try to avoid fixin’ to, unless I’m slummin’ it back in my high school town. :smiley:

I didn’t know “that shit ain’t gonna fly” was a regionalism. Never thought about it.

17

How about “The devil’s beating his wife” for when it’s raining and the sun is shining. It’s an odd one, but I’ve heard it.

Or saying, so and so “hung the moon”. As in “is beyond reproach”.

18

When it rains and the sun shines, my mother said it was a monkey’s birthday. But we’re English so that makes all the difference!

19

Say what? It means “I do mind very much.”

“Would ya’ll want to supersize that?”
“I don’t care to”, i.e., “I reckon not.”

20

Both, interestingly enough, Better Than Ezra song subjects. " Hung the moon" is on Friction Baby and " Cry in the Sun" (it took me until a couple of years ago to figure out what that was about! Devil beating his wife? what? lol) is on Deluxe.